Agitation of milk in the form of frothing the milk is used e.g. for preparing beverages like cappuccinos, milky coffees, café lattes, macchiato, etc. that typically comprises a liquid portion like coffee topped with a layer of frothed milk.
Various devices for frothing milk is known in various types and shapes including simpler domestic ones primarily using physical agitation to froth the milk and typically more professional or advanced ones e.g. using steam from a steam pipe to agitate and thereby froth the milk.
It is generally known that heating or pre-heating the milk will typically enhance the frothing process.
As mentioned, domestic milk frothers typically have one or more agitation elements to be immersed in the milk and driven by hand, electromechanically, or magnetically and thereby froth the milk. An aim may be to ensure frothing as fast as possible and/or e.g. also as uniformly as possible.
Other types of mixers for food liquids or liquid-like foods are also generally known.
Patent specification WO 2009/020384 discloses a device for frothing milk. Milk is contained in a container comprised by a main body and heated by means of a heating element. While heating the milk, the milk is agitated by means of a circular annular spring. This results in frothed milk for serving for example a cappuccino or other drinks. The spring is driven by a motor in a lid for closing the container. Contact between the main body and the lid for powering the motor is provided by means of open electrical contacts.
Patent specification WO 2007/025789 discloses a refrigerator comprising two inductors for contactlessly transferring electrical energy to activate a fan electrical energy to a fan thereby creating air circulation in a drawer. The two inductors disclosed are bulky, making them unsuitable for use in handheld devices.
Patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,267 discloses a contactless connecting system between a base and a terminal providing the possibility of supplying any standard electrical appliance once it is connected to the terminal. The terminal disclosed is a bulky device and intended for supplying high power.
Electrical toothbrushes generally available in the market use inductive coupling for charging batteries to power the toothbrush. The inductive coupling transfers electrical energy at a relatively low power level, only suitable for charging the batteries. Hence, users of the toothbrush are highly recommended to power off the toothbrush before charging the batteries, by means of the product documentation.